


Small Ponds

by Milieu



Series: Uchiha Itachi vs Society [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Gen, M/M, Moving, Referenced PTSD, Some Humor, referenced police brutality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-11 21:51:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16860928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milieu/pseuds/Milieu
Summary: Kisame helps Itachi get moved in and reflects on their relationship. They also continue to be unimpressed by lawyers.





	Small Ponds

"You wouldn't know it by looking at him, but Itachi can probably kill a man," Kisame said conversationally to Danzo as they stood outside the house which had just officially become Itachi's. Itachi was busy dealing with the movers and realtors and whoever else was milling around, and Sasuke had gone off to explore the house, leaving Kisame with the solemn task of lawyer wrangling.

Danzo gave him a sidelong look, like he wasn't quite sure what to make of Kisame or his words, but had decided to be generally displeased by them both. "Oh?"

Kisame grinned a little wider, making sure to show off his teeth. Danzo's expression pinched further, both with the disdain that Kisame was used to seeing on the faces of strangers and something that smelled satisfyingly like intimidation.

"Oh hell yeah. I was surprised by how quickly he picked stuff up when he started training at the dojo, but it's been about a year and he's definitely at the top of his level. Not that he  _would_ hurt anyone, mind you, but damn- if you'd ever seen him, you wouldn't be asking about security systems and shit."

Full disclosure? Kisame had no problem with Itachi's fancy new house having a security system installed, and in fact he supported it. Itachi certainly was capable of defending himself, but he could afford a little extra paranoia now, so why not? It'd help Kisame sleep easier when he wasn't there, if nothing else.

He just wanted to put the fear of God into this fucking sleazeball lawyer.

"That's... comforting, I suppose," Danzo said. He was doing a good job of keeping his voice even, despite his expression.

"Helps me sleep at night." Kisame voiced his thought from moments earlier, hooking his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans. Danzo gave him another side-eye. If he had any comments about Kisame and Itachi's relationship, he wisely kept them to himself.

"How did you meet, again?" He ventured finally, when Kisame offered nothing more than another toothy grin.

"Got arrested at a protest and ended up in the back of the same squad car. Spent a night in jail together. It was extremely romantic."

Kisame was gratified to see Danzo look completely nonplussed for the first time.

"How... adventurous."

"S'part of why I invited him to start coming to the dojo. Shoulda seen how twiggy he was before he started working out. I was amazed that he didn't get the shit beat out of him, but he told me later he'd been a police cadet or some shit before he dropped out. Guess they still kinda felt for their buddy and didn't want him too roughed up. Not that he considers any of them his buddies anymore, I don't think."

Danzo pursed his lips. He'd recovered his composure somewhat, but it was clear that he was regretting participating in this conversation at all. Whatever dirt he might dig up on Itachi was no secret to anyone, really, so he didn't even get the benefit of blackmail material.

Besides, Kisame had heard more than enough about Uchiha Madara to know that just about anything Itachi (or Sasuke, for that matter) could get up to would pale in comparison to the old man's rap sheet. Itachi's minor indiscretions wouldn't have gotten him street cred, much less do enough damage to his reputation for Danzo to hold anything over him.

Nobody was going to hold anything over Itachi or Sasuke anymore. If the money didn't make sure of that, Kisame would.

\---

When things finally settled and Kisame was comfortably lawyer-free, he moseyed into the house to locate Itachi and Sasuke. The place was, as Itachi had declared when they'd drunkenly gone through all of Madara's wills and deeds, unreasonably large. It had an antique affect, but was of modern design; Itachi had been very firm on his desire to shell out for a newer place. A place that was up to every code on record.

No fires and as few ghosts as possible. That was what the Uchiha brothers needed.

"Hey, Itachi!" Kisame bellowed into the quiet interior of the house. His voice echoed back at him from the network of unfurnished rooms. More efficient than going wandering.

A voice floated down from somewhere upstairs. "We're in here."

Kisame located the stairs and tromped on up. He glanced into each room he passed in the upstairs hallway until he finally located the one Itachi and Sasuke were in. They both seemed preoccupied, so Kisame leaned against the doorframe instead of immediately announcing his presence.

"So a bed, a desk... what about a bookshelf?" Itachi seemed to be talking to himself as much as to Sasuke.

"Naruto has a TV in his room," Sasuke said.

Itachi did not look enthused about Sasuke having a TV in his room. "...We'll think about the TV, if there's room for it."

Kisame snorted. The room that had apparently been selected as Sasuke's was nearly as big as the entire apartment Itachi had previously inhabited. It wasn't going to be lacking in space even when fully-furnished.

Alerted to his presence, Itachi glanced over his shoulder at Kisame and smiled.

Ah, damn. He really thought he should be too old to get butterflies like that.

"Aw, let the kid have a TV," he said, properly entering the room. "And a games console. That's how you get friends in high school. You invite 'em over to beat 'em up. Virtually."

Sasuke gave Itachi a victorious look, as though his being outvoted decided it. Itachi turned away so that Sasuke and Kisame wouldn't see him roll his eyes. "Fine, fine. What color do you want the walls?"

The room was going to be Sasuke's, but he wouldn't actually be moving into it for a while. Itachi hadn't yet tried to petition for custody again. Money or no, the family that Sasuke was living with already were considered more stable. Though he was reluctant to admit as much, Itachi wasn't in a rush to separate Sasuke from the support Minato and Kushina gave him, not to mention their son, who seemed to be Sasuke's only actual friend. With Minato and Kushina's permission, Sasuke was free to spend the night in Itachi's new house every so often, and even bring Naruto with him for sleepovers, but it wasn't really going to be his home.

It ate at Itachi, that even when he now had the means to provide for Sasuke, he couldn't properly be Sasuke's guardian. Kisame knew that, and it chafed at him too because of how it affected Itachi. Neither of them had ever been very good at dealing with helplessness.

Kisame couldn't do anything about the legal quagmire, but maybe he could lend a hand in other ways.

"Hey, speaking of high school and all that shi- crap." Sasuke muffled a snort at Kisame's ineffective last-second word swap. Itachi swung back around to make sure that Kisame caught his unimpressed look. Kisame just grinned at him. "You know, my kid cousins go to the same school you're going to be at. They're both a little older, but I bet they'd like to hang out. Mangetsu knows his way around the campus and all the stuff around it. He could show you and your buddy Naruto around, help you find your classes and all that."

Sasuke looked skeptical, but Itachi had perked up somewhat. "That's a great idea," he said warmly.  _For once_ , was unspoken and not seriously meant. "Mangetsu and... what's the other one, again?"

"Suigetsu."

"Right, Suigetsu. They're both in the athletic program too, right? You could talk to them about sports, see which things seem like a good idea to try out for, if you still want to do that."

"Suigetsu's going to be in the grade right above you," Kisame said, directing his attention back to Sasuke. "He's a little sh-  _rascal_ ," he caught himself when Itachi's expression turned severe again, "but he's a good kid. Lots of fun. Going up for captain of the swim team this year or something."

"We'll have to try to get together with them sometime before the school year starts," Itachi said. Sasuke mumbled something akin to assent. He'd been coming out of his shell more often, Itachi had told Kisame, but opening up to people was still hard for him. Kisame thought that an outgoing friend or two was just the remedy for that.

Besides, Suigetsu could use a grounding influence. He didn't listen to shit that Mangetsu or their parents said.

Kisame just wasn't going to tell Itachi about that part of the plan until he was sure it was a success.

\---

Whenever they sparred, Kisame was impressed all over again by Itachi's poise. He was impressed just watching Itachi go through forms, of course, but there was nothing quite like facing off against him, one on one. Itachi was graceful in a way that one might expect, but there was an intensity about him that came to the fore whenever there was a fight on.

Itachi might not have been a born fighter, but goddamn, life had made him one. If Itachi had enemies, they should consider themselves lucky that he'd decided to be some vegetarian health goth activist and not, like, a serial killer. Or a cop, for that matter.

The one thing that Kisame regularly had to chide Itachi for was his kiai, the shouts a martial artist was supposed to let out whenever they made a strike. Itachi didn't like being loud.

Frankly, it was pretty damn unnerving to watch someone do their strikes so silently, with such intense concentration. Kisame had told Itachi point-blank not long after they'd met and he'd wheedled Itachi into coming to the dojo that his quiet made the other students nervous. Itachi had been bemused.

He moved through life quietly, seriously. Always fighting some internal battle, clawing his way back up from whatever depths he'd been plunged into. Kisame had seen that much in him the first time they'd met, when they were getting jostled into the back of a car together.

" _Jesus_ , Itachi," the cop had said, catching Kisame by surprise. He'd been a young guy, pretty fresh onto the force. He'd been looking at Itachi with a sort of confused exasperation and disappointment. They had known each other.

Itachi had reared back and spit in his face.

Kisame thought he might have fallen in love right then and there.

\---

"I think I'm going to talk to the school before classes officially start," Itachi said, bringing Kisame out of his doze. They were pressed close together on the air mattress in the floor of Itachi's new bedroom; the bedframe wasn't yet assembled, and didn't have a proper mattress anyway. After Kushina came by to collect Sasuke and they got through dinner, they'd both been too tired to do anything but go to bed early. Moving was hard work.

"What for?" Itachi was a thin, angular shape in the dark, on his side with his back to Kisame. Even if he'd been able to see Itachi's face, he was sure that Itachi's expression would have been hard to read.

"Just to... you know, check in on things. See what the teachers are like. It's a good school, but I've... heard some things."

Kisame racked his brain to see if he, too, had heard any "things" but came up empty. "Like what?"

"Irresponsible teaching practices."

Ah. Well, it could be worse. Nothing like giving Itachi something else to worry over, though.

"Mn, well, go terrorize 'em then." He wasn't sure if the humor came through there, so he added, "I'll come too, if you need someone dunked in the trash."

Itachi snorted. "I just want to check on things," he said finally.

"I know." Kisame reached over Itachi's waist and pulled him back so that they fit snugly together. Itachi ran hot, and these big, empty rooms were still and cool. "I think he's gonna be okay, okay? He's got a lot of support." _A lot m_ _ore than you had_ , Kisame thought but didn't say.

He wasn't a sentimental guy, really. Didn't know much about expressing his emotions or whatever, not one for poetry or any of that bull.

But goddamn. Sometimes he looked at Itachi, and he saw a miracle.

There was that phrase, what was it? Something really tasteless when applied to Itachi's experience. Rising up from the ashes or whatever.

Kisame didn't think that dicknosed lawyer really understood what he'd unleashed upon the world by giving Itachi the means to actually  _do_ the things he wanted to do. Shit was going to get dismantled and rebuilt, and there wasn't a whole lot anyone could do about it, as far as Kisame could see. Itachi might not have been a born fighter, but when he had been ravaged by tragedy, something had welled up within him and refused to die. He'd had every right to turn bitter and cold, but somehow he hadn't.

Itachi had always been a big fish in a small pond, but he'd never been one to eat others to survive. He wanted to give back, even to the world that had taken so much from him.

There was one hell of a reckoning coming to the city, and to Kisame, it smelled like new life.


End file.
